Case against Leena: MHC transfers case to another judge

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has pointed out that there are procedural violations in a criminal defamation case filed by director Leena Manimekalai and ordered the transfer of trial from the one Magistrate to another. In 2018, during the 'me too' movement in twitter, many leading female personalities raised sexual allegations against well known male personalities.

As part of it, filmmaker Leena Manimekalai also raised sexual allegations against the director Susi Ganesan. Assailing this, the director Susi Ganesan filed a criminal defamation suit against Leena Manimekalai in the Metropolitan Magistrate Court, Saidapet, Chennai and the trial is underway. Subsequently, film maker Leena Manimekalai moved the Madras High Court alleging that the trial of the case is biased and there are several procedural violations and seeking an order should be issued for the transfer of the trial.

When this petition came up for hearing before Justice G Chandrasekharan, Leena Manimekalai had filed an affidavit stating that she would cooperate in expeditious disposal of the defamation case.

Accepting her arguments, Justice G Chandrasekharan said that he did not find any material to prove the accusation that the IX Metropolitan Magistrate was biased in favour of director Susi Ganesan and supporting him during the course of the trial in the case and he found that there are three procedural violations in the case and said that these violations make out a ground for transferring the trial from one Magistrate to another.

The judge has ordered the transfer of the trial from the IX Metropolitan Magistrate to XI Metropolitan Magistrate at Saidapet in Chennai and directed the XI Metropolitan Magistrate to complete the trial within three months.